


A smile as bright as the sun

by Eloqxence



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: Other, You would think that as a prince Jehan would understand the concept of stranger danger, also alcoholism, its Jehan which is kinda obvious I suppose?, non binary character, someone save them, the les amis will make an appearance but like near the end of the story so I won't tag them, there is a small hint at child abuse in the first chapter, this is like a tangled inspired AU that's all I have to say, you're wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-15
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-12-30 06:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12102846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eloqxence/pseuds/Eloqxence
Summary: A long time ago there was a kingdom, in this kingdom lived two queens and their young child. One day, the child got sick and needed a magical flower to survive.Now years later Jehan Prouvaire, the child of the queens meets a young man by the name of Montparnasse. Montparnasse convinces the prince to follow him out of the castle they were told to never leave and on the way they make quite the memorable journey/





	A smile as bright as the sun

**Author's Note:**

> As usual a huge thanks to my best friend Pedro for proof reading my story even tho she isn't into Les mis really I love her.

This is the story of how I died. Don't worry it's actually pretty funny and it isn't even mine. This story is about someone named Jehan and it starts with the sun.

Now, once upon a time, a single drop of sunlight fell from the sky and landed on earth. From this small drop of sunlight grew a flower with the magical ability to heal the sick and injured. Not far away from this flower, a kingdom was born and the queens had adopted a young child. The child was getting sick and the doctors told the queens the end was nearing. This is usually when people start looking for a miracle, a sunflower to be specific.   
The legend of the magical flower had been told in the kingdom for centuries and so they sent out men to find it. It took a very long time before it was found, but the flower was brought back and given to the child. The magical flower's powers had a good effect and the young child, who they had named Jehan, grew up healthy.  
When Jehan turned 14 they discovered their magical powers when they found a tiny bird who was badly injured. They sung to it to calm it down, but instead the bird’s wounds closed and it ended up following them around for the rest of its life. They had excitedly ran to their mothers to tell them about what happened, however, their mothers had not been as excited as they had been. After asking the royal advisers for help their mothers decided to keep them in the castle to keep them safe and protected and to keep their powers a secret from the world.   
Jehan didn't agree and had protested, insisting that they couldn't just keep them away from the public without an explanation.They had insisted they should make their powers known to the public so they could help the uncurable sick. Their mothers had eventually ended up to agree with them and so Jehan their powers were revealed to the public.  
Over the years Jehan spent a great time healing the uncurable sick from all sorts of places. People travelled to see Jehan in the hopes of getting their loved ones back and to be released from their illnesses. Although Jehan was happy to help, they were very upset about not being allowed to leave the palace anymore.During summer they longingly looked out of their window which had a view on the entire kingdom. They felt trapped and the older they became, the more they longed to be able to go outside of the city with their friends.   
Their friend group was made up out of people who worked in the palace. There were the maids: Cosette, Eponine and Musichetta. There was the stable boy named Grantaire. The kitchen staff which consisted out of Bahorel, Bossuet and Courfeyrac. He also ended up growing close to the 3 sons of the royal advisers who occasionally came over: Combeferre, Marius and Enjolras.   
Ever since a short time ago Grantaire had gained 2 new stable boys: Joly and Fueilly. It didn't take long for them to also become a part of Jehan their trusted friendgroup. Occasionally, Eponine took her younger siblings to work who were adored by most of the staff. The palace was never quiet and Jehan had it good and yet they longed to see the busy streets, the markets and the places Grantaire always talked about where he went to get dinner with the others. His friends were nice enough to bring food back to eat with Jehan but it wasn't the same as sitting with them in that restaurant. They never complained out loud though.   
They always convinced themselves to be happy about having a loving family and their close and trusted friendgroup, and yet deep inside they longed for a greater adventure.

In the slums of the kingdom there was a boy. He came from a rich family but had resulted into living a life of crime after his father lost his job. His name was Montparnasse. The reason he is so important to the story is because he is the one who will be taking our beloved prince away on that great adventure they've been longing for ever since they were locked within the palace.   
When Montparnasse was only a young boy, his father had been fired from his work for theft and his mother had ended up on the streets as a prostitute to be able to feed Montparnasse. His father was an alcoholic who never worked anymore after the incident and after his mother’s death Montparnasse was left to fend for himself. Because of this, he ended up stealing and picking pockets on the busy streets.   
One day, however, he ended up stealing from the wrong person. This person was another thief from the slums. This thief was Claquesous, and upon finding the younger thief attempting to steal from him he decided to take him in and care for him. Though Claquesous himself didn't have much either, he managed to provide a roof for Montparnasse to live under and to keep him safe from sleeping on the streets. He taught him all the sneaky tricks he knew and Montparnasse managed to remain uncaught by the police.   
Over the years Montparnasse and Claquesous formed a trustworthy group of friends who referred to themselves as the Patron Minette; they stole at night and spent their treasures at day. The Patron Minette was made up out of 4 leaders: Claquesous, who always wore a mask and hid within the darkness, as if he himself was a shadow, a being of the night who dwelled the streets of the slums and the city as if they were his. There was Babet, a jack of all trades and a former dentist. Babet had been married once and even had children, but he had lost them like one would lose a handkerchief. There was Gueulemer. He was the most physically imposing of the gang but when asked by the others he was more known for having very little brain. And of course, let's not forget about Montparnasse. Montparnasse lived by robbery with violence. He was a handsome young fellow, but the years on the streets managed to hide that. He had quite a lot of crimes on his name and was, alongside the rest of his friends, one of the most wanted criminals in the kingdom. 

Now that we've got the introductions out of the way, it is time to move to the real beginning of the story, which takes place shortly before Jehan their 20st birthday. 

It all starts when Montparnasse goes out on his own to break into someone their house. He easily forces the lock and goes inside the house. He quietly makes his way on the stairs into the room where he knows this couple keeps their money. He opens the door and quietly goes in, however, the moment he sets a foot inside the room the door flies shut with a lot of force. All the candles turn on and Montparnasse grabs his knife, holding it out in front of him as he spins to look at the door only to find no one there. He turns around the room but finds it to be completely empty. He's about to disregard it as the wind playing tricks when suddenly the knife is flung out of his hands by some invisible force. He knows better than to stay here and goes straight to the door, but whatever took his knife now has a strong hold on Montparnasse as well. 

"Please, I'm not here to hurt you." A voice speaks. It belongs to a woman and Montparnasse has trouble with trying to pin point the exact spot where the voice is coming from. It sounds as if the woman is right there, but at the same time it sounds as if it's coming from everywhere within the room, as if she is right in his mind.

"Then what are you here for?" Montparnasse asks, his voice soft in fear of being found out by the couple that lives in the house. It's as if by some miracle they had temporarily gone deaf considering they didn't run directly to the room at the sound of the door shutting so forcefully.

"I'm here to make you an offer, and there is no need to worry about the couple. They won't be bothering you for as long as you're in the house to rob from them." The woman appeared in front of him, holding his knife in her hands. She was young and pretty, with long black hair and beautiful features.

"Truth be told, I've been watching you Montparnasse. You are exactly the man I've been looking for... You're still young, you're strong and smart. You've got an organized and a trustworthy group of friends who can help you take care of this job." She handed him back his knife and smiled.

"What is it, the job? What do you want me to do?" 

"I want you to kidnap Jehan Prouvaire." She said. She smiled at him as if she was asking him to run a few errands, as if kidnapping Jehan would be as easy as buying some eggs.

"You want me to kidnap the prince? You must be willing to offer me quite a lot of money I'd assume." 

"Of course, you would receive more money than you could ever wish for. I would be paying you so much you could buy your own castle and still have money left over to never have to work a day in your life." 

Montparnasse stayed quiet, the offer was tempting. He would be rich enough to pay off not only his debts that his father left him, but he could also pay off all of his friends their debts. They would be able to live amazing lives, they would never have to worry about being caught by the police again. If they had the money they could flee the country, they could be free.

"I need to talk it over with my friends, but I'm willing to take this offer. I'm just not sure if I'll be working alone." 

"Amazing, meet me here again in 2 days. Same time as today, let nobody know of our meeting except for your friends." She said before vanishing.

"Oh, and the couple won't bother you anymore. Just make sure to leave before the police arrives, you have half an hour." Her voice echoed through his mind and Montparnasse quickly made his way through the room to get all the valuable stuff that he needed. He walked out and came across the bedroom, he couldn't help his curiosity taking over. He slowly opened the door and went inside only to find the couple tied up to their beds. There was blood on their bed and on the walls but they were still alive. the couple was blindfolded though, and they couldn't see Montparnasse.

"Please.... Please let us go." The young woman sobbed.

Montparnasse stood in the door opening for a few seconds before turning around and leaving them. He heard the woman sob louder and heard her begging to be let go. He ignored it and just quickly left the house. There was no need to be quiet anymore since they couldn't do anything about him being there in the first place. He made his way out of the neighborhoud and went back to his place. He had enough time to think everything through and decided to go to bed first. The night had been tiring and he deserved a good night of sleep.

 

-

 

In the morning he sits at the table, eating some toast for breakfast while he waits for the others to join him. Claquesous shows up first, he sits next to him with some eggs and bread.

"You were out last night." He states before taking a bite of the eggs.

"Indeed I was." 

"You killed a couple." He continues. He puts down his eggs and turns to look at him. He doesn't look angry, just disappointed. 

"I didn't." 

"A couple was found dead in their house after being robbed." 

"I didn't kill them."

Claquesous shrugged and continued eating his breakfast and it didn't take long for the others to join them. They ate in silence, as there wasn't much to discuss yet. Montparnasse first assumed breakfast would be the best time to address his encounter with the woman, but perhaps it would be better to wait a bit. It was still early, they had work to do and they had no time to talk just yet. Lunch would probably work though, so when Montparnasse left to clean his dishes, he turned around to face his friends and said: "I have to tell you guys something during lunch, so make sure to meet me here in time. It's important, it's about a job." before going into the kitchen.

 

Montparnasse spends the rest of his morning going over plans for the kidnapping. He thinks about an easy way to sneak into the castle, he thinks of a way to get Jehan to follow him and how he can easily get them to the witch without getting captured by the royal guards. Claquesous walks in at some point to give him some coffee. He tried to ask him what he was planning but he had to wave him away, as he couldn't afford to get distracted right now. Montparnasse told him he would find out at lunch together with the others, that the planning he was doing now was very important and that he couldn't get distracted. So Claquesous left without saying a word, leaving him to plan and to drink his coffee in the comfortable silence of his bedroom. Around 1:30 PM he finally finished his planning and went downstairs to the living room. The rest of the Patron Minette had already been seated at their table and a plate with toast had been put down for Montparnasse.

"It might have gone cold, you were up there for a long time." Babet says.

"My bad, thanks for making me lunch though." Montparnasse says and sits down. He takes a bite of the toast, which has indeed gone cold, and looks up at the others. They're all waiting in anticipation for him to speak, since he had never been so mysterious about a job before. He almost wants to make them wait, joke around a bit and pretend he forgot what the job was, but it would be a shame to the massive amount of planning he had done.

"The job," He started. "was given to me by a woman. I met her when I went out to rob this couple last night. She said she had watched me and found us the right group of people to carry out the job with." He grabbed the can of milk that was standing on the table and poured himself a glass, calmly taking a sip before meeting their eyes again. He could tell they were all intrigued, they wanted to know more about what the woman had asked him to do.

"She wants us to kidnap someone." 

"That's not really our brand of work though, is it?" Gueulemer said.

"No, it is not. Kidnapping Jehan Prouvaire definitly isn't our kind of work." Montparnasse said calmly, as if he was talking with them about something as simple as a robbery at night.

"This woman wants us to kidnap someone from the fucking royal family?! What is she, crazy?!" Claquesous asked.

"I have 2 days to decide. I've done some planning and if I'm correct it's not impossible to get into the castle unseen. The prince has a window which is placed directly in the wall that faces the outside of the castle, so it's just a matter of climbing past the guards unseen. It can be done if we take 2 of them out. 2 of you would take their place and take up the patrolling near the outside window. Then it's a matter of breaking in; it probably has some sort of lock which I can probably force my way into, then in order to take the prince all we have to do is wait for them to be asleep, so we'll strike at midnight." 

"Montparnasse are you hearing yourself? It's impossible to break into the palace!" 

"She will pay us very well, we'd be rich enough to live without working a day in our lives." Montparnasse continued, pretending he didn't hear Claquesous protesting. "And it's not impossible to break in, someone's done it before. We just have to make sure we're off the grid, hide in the woods as we make our way to the woman her hideout. We deliver her Jehan and we will be richer than any one of us could have ever dreamt off." 

He was met with complete silence and stares. He knew the idea was bizarre and he knew he probably wouldn't get their support, but he also knew he was going to do this with or without them, and so did the others. They exchanged glances, as if they were having a complete conversation without involving Montparnasse in any way possible. After some time in silence Babet broke it by groaning softly. He turned his attention to Montparnasse and sighed.

"Fine. When are we supposed to meet this woman?"

"Tomorrow night, in the couple their house. Same time as I left yesterday." 

"God we're all going to get hung for theft and treason and god knows what else." Claquesous said.

"You don't have to join in, you can forget I ever mentioned anything and I'll do it all on my own." 

Babet snorted and Claquesous smirked.

"Uh yeah and let you die? No thanks, I'd rather go with you then, especially considering you obviously already calculated us into your magnificent plan of kidnapping the queens their child." Babet said.

"Well thanks, We'll meet with her tomorrow night then." 

 

-

 

At midnight the Patron Minette went out to move. They were cloaked and masked to keep their identity hidden from anyone still up at this hour. Montparnasse was in front, directing them to the house of the now dead couple. Although he expected police at the scene of the crime, the house was completely quiet and dark. They easily entered, Montparnasse didn't even have to force the lock. He suspected the woman had already done it to make it easier for them to get in. He quietly went up the stairs, past the bedroom where he left the owners for dead, and right into the little office where he had first met the woman. As expected she was already there, standing in the middle of the room with 2 maps spread out on the little desk.

"I went through the trouble of getting you a few maps. One of the castle's layout to help your plans, and one that shows the location of my hide out. I'll be expecting you there. The journey will take you about a week depending on how you wish to travel there: through the village would save you 2 days, but there's obviously a higher change of getting caught." 

Montparnasse nodded and walked over to study the map of the castle. His predictions had been correct, Jehan their bedroom was still located with a window looking out over the kingdow and there was even a wall directly under it which was guarded by 2 guards. Now that he had an actual visual of the castle, it was easier to find a way in and a way out. Even if he had to drag Jehan with him, there was little chance of being caught if he just managed to get them to the wall where Claquesous and Gueulemer would be taking up the parts of the guards. Babet would get the job of lookout outside of the bedroom.There would probably be guards somewhere in the hallway, so he would have to be dressed up as well.

"It’s doable." Montparnasse stated before turning to look at the woman.

"Is there anything you still need? I can provide you with weapons and anything else you need." The woman smiled slightly at him.

"We need some of the guards their outfits. If we want to get in, we need to disguise ourselves as guards. It'll raise less suspicion to see 2 guards on the wall below the prince their bedroom then 2 cloaked figures. We also need to have one of us outside of the bedroom, to keep other guards away from me as I'll take the prince away." 

"I think it would be a better idea to give you a uniform as well, that way you can convince the prince to come with you and it'll cause less concern if you get seen by the other guards. It also won't require you to make a dangerous climb through a window." The woman says.

 

"That's... actually not a bad idea." 

 

-

 

A few days later it's the night of their kidnapping. Claquesous and Gueulemer get into the castle first to relieve the guards on the wall near Jehan their room of their duties. After they safely make it in, Babet and Montparnasse go after them. Montparnasse quietly makes his way through the castle, going up the stairs to find the bedroom which belongs to Jehan. On his way in he passes quite a lot of guards but none of them pay him any mind. They greet him as if he's one of them and he's very pleased about how well his plan is going so far. They're almost on the right floor when suddenly someone puts a hand on Montparnasse his shoulder and pulls him back. He quickly spins arround and finds another guard. He's a lot taller than Montparnasse and he has a sword hanging on his middle. He glares down at Babet and him, and then he opens his mouth to speak.

"What are you doing up here? I don't remember sending you here to guard over Jehan." The guard says.

"Correct sir, we were sent here by someone else." Babet says.

"By who?" The guard obviously doesn't buy the story, as he suspiciously looks them up and down. "I don't think I've ever seen you before." 

"Correct sir," Montparnasse quickly says before Babet can protest. "We are new guards, sir. We were sent up here by someone but as this is our first day, we do not know this person’s name. We were sent to guard over Jehan their bedroom so the other guards can rest." 

The guard continues to glare at them, but then he nods and walks away. Montparnasse actually can't believe how well this went. He can almost not believe this other guard just left without saying a word and just bought their story. He turns to look at Babet who just shrugs and together they continue to march up the stairs to the bedroom. They relieve the other 2 guards and stand in silence for a bit. When they are 100% sure no one is there anymore Montparnasse slips into the bedroom, however, he is completely taken by surprise to find the prince sitting up in their bed. They have a candle on and are using it to read a book, and there is a small bird sitting near the door that tweets excitedly as Montparnasse enters.

"Ah! Hello." The prince speaks in a whisper. They smile at Montparnasse though and signals to a chair for him to sit in.

"Uh... My apologies your highness." Montparnasse quickly picks up the act of guard again and sits in the chair. Jehan puts the book away and grabs a chair to sit next to him. Montparnasse is surprised to say the least. Does this kid know nothing of stranger danger? Unless, of course, they don't think Montparnasse is a stranger. The realisation quickly dawns on him as he realises Jehan must think that he's an actual guard, and he can't blame them. Wherever the woman got the guard suits from, they looked incredibly realistic. Montparnasse pressed the issue a few times but she simply wouldn't tell him anything.

"To what do I owe this visit?" Jehan asks with a slight smile. Guards must be coming into their room all the time if they aren't shocked by Montparnasse his sudden entrance, or maybe they just really are as kind as the stories told by the poor in the slums. He doubts that though.

"I saw the candle light, I was worried something might have been wrong." He lied.He hadn't been able to see the candle light at all when he was standing outside the room. When he entered he could vaguely see what appeared to be a towel or a cloth laying in front of the door in the dim candle light. It must have been used to keep the light in, but now that he had opened the door it had been moved to the side and none of them were still able to tell in what position it had been before he had entered the room.

"Really? I thought I got the door covered. The window is the real tough trick, you know? There are always guards standing downstairs under my window, for protection of course. It would be silly if they stood there to stop me from reading." Jehan giggled a little and Montparnasse actually allowed himself to smile slightly.

"Very silly indeed." He said.

"You won't tell my mothers though, right? Let it be our little secret." Jehan said with a smirk.

"I'm making such a good impression on my first day, already forming a conspiracy with the prince." Montparnasse said with a chuckle.

"You're the best guard that has ever randomly barged into my room, though... uhm..." 

"Montparnasse, the name is Montparnasse, sir." 

"That's a nice name." Jehan smiled at him and Montparnasse let out a content sigh.

"I should return to my duties. I won't tell anyone you're reading. Promise." Montparnasse got up and walked away to the door, but he stopped for a few seconds to look at the bird. "Nice bird." 

"Thanks." Jehan said as Montparnasse left the room.

"Where the fuck is the prince?" Babet whispered when Montparnasse took him back down the stairs.

"Slight change of plans, I'll explain when we're home." 

 

-

 

"What do you mean you intend to go back tomorrow night?!" Gueulemer asked shocked.

"Jehan thinks I'm a guard, if I convince them to trust me enough they'll go with me on their own accord." 

"So? You're putting yourself in unnecessary danger!" Claquesous said.

"I'll have them out of there before anyone will notice." Montparnasse said, being very determined of his case and that he could pull this off.

"You can go on your own, we won't return to that damn castle until you convince them to come with you." Babet said with a sigh.

"That's okay, I can work on my own. I'll get them out of there, and then you'll only have to come to the castle to convince them they'll be leaving with more than 1 guard." 

 

-

 

The next evening he easily gets back into the castle. As long as he wears the costume of the guards, they won't be able to tell that he's an intruder. The woman had left him a sword, and though he couldn't really wield it, it made him look more like a guard than when he was without it. 

He easily makes his way to Jehan their bedroom. He can see the lights are on as a dim light shines under the door. It seems like they left no rug this night, were they expecting him? He gently knocks on the door and hears nothing. He is about to leave when the door suddenly opens and a hand pulls him inside the room. His hand almost immediatly reaches for the knife he has hidden under his shirt, but before he can he gets hugged.

"I knew you would come over again!" It's Jehan.

"You scared me, I almost attacked you Sir." Montparnasse says.

Jehan lets go of him and goes to sit on their bed, they smile at Montparnasse and once again points towards the chair. He grabs it and puts it down next to Jehan their bed.

"Call me Jehan or Prouvaire. Whatever you prefer is fine by me, but sir sounds so formal!" Jehan says with a smile.

"My apologies, si-... Jehan." Montparnasse said softly.

"I have a habit of talking a lot to my guards, I like being able to have conversations with them. It makes the whole guarding a little less boring, you know?" 

Montparnasse nods. He has no clue what Jehan is talking about, but if he wants to win their trust he might as well pretend to become all buddy buddy with them, and a conversation might just be the key to that exact goal.

"So, Montparnasse. Tell me about yourself!" 

"What do you wish to know?"

"Anything. Hobbies, why you became a guard, where you were born, what your family is like, whatever you want to tell me." 

Montparnasse nods again. He sits in silence for a bit. He can tell from the corners of his eyes that Jehan is studying him, that they're waiting for a response.

"For starters, I don't really have any hobbies." It's not a complete lie, his hobbies consist of criminal activities. "I became a guard because I felt like it'd be a great honour to serve the royal family in such an important way, and it also pays well," He had heard stories.The guards were indeed paid a good amount of money. They had access to medicine, to the best food. They were selfish. "It allows me to pay off my family debts." Also not a complete lie. Apparantly his father had passed away shortly after he joined Claquesous. He hadn't left him much except for his massive debts. Revenge from beyond the grave, or something like that.

"Does your family have big debts?" Jehan asked carefully.

"Yes. Massive." Montparnasse his response is short. He doesn't want to get into that obviously and Jehan can tell, so Jehan lets it go.

"What was your family like?" 

"Not important." His dad was a drunk who had tough fists, his mother was a prostitute who worked herself to death to protect her son and that was none of Jehan their business.

"Alright, then tell me about uhm... the things you like!" 

"Not much... However, I was born not far from the castle. I lived in a wealthy neighbourhood, I had a good place to sleep. I had an education, although only briefly. I can read and I can write, but I don't speak any foreign languages." 

"You don't?" 

"No. Only French. I know quite a lot of basic math though, but I was never taught at school."

Jehan nods. Montparnasse can tell that they are tired, so he leans over to their night stand and turns off the candle that had been covering the room in dim light. It goes dark and he feels Jehan grab his hand. They squeeze it before letting go and laying in bed. He hears them move the blankets around and they sit in silence. By the time his eyes have finally adjusted to the sudden darkness, Jehan is fast asleep.

 

-

 

The next time he visits is a few days away. He has to keep up the illusion he has assigned shifts, and he can't do that if he goes into their bedroom every night to talk to them, they might get suspicious. So 3 days after his last visits he goes to the castle again, only to find it being filled with life and joy. There was a ball going on and the moment Montparnasse set foot in the castle, he is dragged away by other guards to stand guard in the ballroom. He curses the fact that he got himself into this, he could be spotted by the queens at any moment or the other guards could find out that he is actually not one of them. He somehow still manages to keep a low profile though, and so he goes to the table which is filled with food.   
God, rich people are so selfish, they fill their tables with the most expensive food to show themselves off to the others. “Look at me I’m so rich I could afford this!” ”Oh but look at me, I’m even richer because I’ve got that.”. Eventually they won’t be able to keep up anymore, someone who is richer comes along and they become useless.   
The weakest is often kicked out, it’s in our nature. So the rich steal from the poor, they steal from who ever they can and they ignore the dangerous downfall that they drag their family into. Being rich is like climbing a cliff, you’re holding onto the rocks for your life and you try to grab more to get to the top but when you reach the bottom you become desperate. Your friends are falling out of reach, how can you stay close to them if you don’t have the same as them? So you rush, you grab whatever rock you can to get close to them and you ignore whether they crush you and pull you down or not.   
At least the poor have nothing to worry about, they don’t need to climb. There aren’t any rocks for them to grab in the first place, just solid wall where they watch the rich climb higher and higher before falling down with them. Society is a pit, a pit which desperately traps the poor, the sick, the ugly and the doomed. Once you reach that pit only a miracle can get you out.   
Montparnasse grabs a random hors d’oeuvre and takes a bite, and it doesn’t even taste that good. The whole thing made it impossible to talk to Jehan so when the other guards were no longer paying attention to him he attempted to sneak away, using a big group of people around his age for a shield when suddenly a hand grabbed his. The skin was soft and warm and he turned around surprised to find that it belonged to Jehan. The group stared at him, they had never seen him in the castle and judging by their clothes most of them worked here. This was not a good situation to be stuck in.

“Montparnasse! I was wondering when I would see you again.”

“My apologies, I had to work yesterday but due to a misunderstanding I was made to believe I had to work today. I was actually just about to leave.” 

“What! No, you have to stay!” Jehan smirked.

“Please, there is little for me to do here if I don’t have to work.” 

“You can dance with me.” Jehan pulled him a little closer and put their hands on his hips. “Just put your arms around my neck.” 

The group of people smirked slightly at eachother, they were obviously Jehan their friends.

“I can’t dance.” 

“It’s easy, I’ll lead.” 

“No.” 

“Please?” Jehan pouted slightly. If it weren’t for the fact that Montparnasse was about to kidnap them he would have considered it adorable.

“One dance.” Montparnasse muttered as he wrapped his arms around Jehan their neck.

“One dance is enough for me.” 

Jehan pulled him onto the dancefloor, easily guiding them around the room to the music. The dancing was simple, all they had to do was spin around and Montparnasse doubted it was even a real dance style or anything along those lines. Jehan didn’t seem bothered about this, neither did they seem bothered about personal space. They were standing very close to him, resting their head against his chest as they guided them around the ballroom. Although he was bothered by the dancing at first it, actually became kinda fun. He also didn’t mind that he had to hold Jehan so close to him.   
The one dance turned into two, then three, then soon into more until they both lost count and were only aware of the two of them. The ballroom music was loud and neither of them attempted to hold a conversation, but it was good this way. Strangely Montparnasse felt content, he even caught himself smiling down at Jehan a few times, though whenever he did he quickly returned his normal expression to his face.   
He lost complete track of time but next thing he knows Jehan is dragging him through the empty hallways. God knows where they’re taking him, but he can’t find it in himself to refuse either. He felt a strange urge to hold Jehan close to him and push them against the wall, he would cup their face in his hands and- No! He shouldn’t be thinking about such things, it’s wrong and distracting. He has to kidnap them, whatever it takes he’ll do it to convince Jehan they can trust him but he can not kiss him. So when Jehan pushes him against the wall and pulls him down to kiss him, he pushes them away gently. He grabs their hand and shakes his head.

“I-I’m sorry… I thought-“ 

“I work for you.” He says softly.

“I know… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, but it’s late… I’ll return tomorrow, I’ll see you in your room right?” 

“Where else would I be?” Jehan speaks softly, their voice trembles and they sound so upset. Montparnasse feels bad but he turns around and walks away, as his footsteps echoes through the now empty halls he hears another sound mix in. It’s soft sobbing.

 

-

 

He returns to the castle with a feeling of dread, he feels as though he has something wrong the other night by leaving Jehan cry to themselves. He has tried to shake the feeling off all day, and he knows he should because time is running short. He has to move in 3 days or the witch will no longer ask for their help. Montparnasse his constant visits are probably starting to cause suspicion and it won’t take long for anyone to find out that he is not actually a guard here.   
So he walks on the stairs, goes straight to Jehan their room and sits down in the chair that’s still next to their bed. Jehan puts their book down and smiles at him. If he had truly broken their heart he wouldn’t be able to tell, because Jehan appears to be having a solid poker face. They sit in a less comfortable silence then they were yesterday. Jehan just reads their book and Montparnasse kinda plays with their bird. He has found out the birds name is Mary by overhearing the guards talk about her, apparently she was a real pain in the ass when she was separated from Jehan. 

“I want to go outside.” Jehan suddenly whispers.

“I beg your pardon? I don’t think I caught what you said.”

“I want to go outside.” Jehan repeats, a little louder this time.

“Then I’ll take you.” 

“You know I’m not allowed to go outside, right? Not until I turn like 25 anyway… They keep pushing the age higher.” 

“I’ll ask your mothers, I’m sure they’d be fine with it if you take 4 guards with you.” 

“You would really… You would really take me outside with you… Even after what I did last night?” 

Montparnasse nods, ignoring the thought of Jehan pushing him against the wall. He turns to Jehan and has to try his best to ignore the idea of Jehan sitting in his lap, kissing him gently and placing their hands on his hips like they did earlier. The idea of him moving a hand lower, reaching for their leg and going up. God where are these ideas coming from? He didn’t know. He just knew he was glad the candle was off and they were sitting in the moon light.

“Thank you.” 

“I’ll ask them tomorrow, but don’t try to push your luck by talking about it. Just leave it to me, I’ll take you away on a nice trip.” 

Lying had never been this hard before, his throat felt dry and he felt a little sting when he told them the trip would be nice. Jehan didn’t know, they would never know where Montparnasse would be taking them until it was too late. They wouldn’t know they were being led into danger until they were headfirst in it. He just convinced himself he was feeling this way because it was his first time kidnapping someone, it was very different after all. He was just nervous, he would be okay, Jehan would go with him and the moment he was rich and free of debt he would completely forget how he even became this way. Yes, soon Jehan would be nothing but a distant memory. Something he would remember so now and then before falling asleep.No longer a longing memory, just a distant one.

He listens to Jehan talk about the outside world, their wonders and their ideas of what the kingdom is like, and that was exactly the problem. He talked of nothing but the kingdom, slums this, restaurants that and let’s not forget markets so and markets this. They didn’t want to leave the kingdom, they wanted to stay within the comfort zone of their own place.

“You don’t want to leave the kingdom?” He cut them off in the middle of a story about this restaurant this supposed Grantaire or whatever the hell his name was always goes to have dinner without them.

“Uhm… Yes? Is that a problem?” 

“Well, no. Sure, the kingdom is beautiful, but it’s also what you’ll be seeing all the time you know? When you rule you’ll be out only on these streets, you’ll be doing nothing else but going to those exact restaurants your friends always brag about-“ “They don’t brag about it! They tell me about it” “- Same thing, don’t interrupt me. As I was saying, you’ll be seeing nothing else but the kingdom. You should be getting out of here, go and see the wide world! Enjoy a little bit of life while you still can. See other kingdoms, small cities and the forests.” 

He knew he had them at forests. Jehan was mostly known for being able to be found in the gardens, the commoners who went in for healing spoke of nothing else but the gardens and their wonders because they simply saw nothing else. The insides of the castles were like a maze, and the garden was it’s entrance.

“Fine, I suppose we could go through the forest as well.” 

“Perfect. You should sleep, I’ll be here again tomorrow.” 

“Of course. Thank you Montparnasse… both for keeping me company and for helping me escape this place.” 

Montparnasse smiles and nods. “It’s not a problem.” He says before leaving the room

 

-

 

At home he sits with the Patron Minette. They decide to discuss the plans on how to get Jehan away from the castle, and the best way would be by taking them out at night when the darkness would provide the best cover. Montparnasse feels odd, there is a weird sensation in his stomach almost as if he is about to vomit. He supposes it’s just the nerves of attempting a crime he had never done before.

 

-

 

He goes back to the castle with Claquesous, Babet and Gueulemer the next evening and walks up the now very familiar flight of stairs to Jehan their bedroom. His heart is pounding in his chest, he is so close to their goal now. The only thing they have to do is get them out into the forest, from there it’ll be nearly impossible to track them. A storm is approaching and their tracks would be completely erased by the rain and the leaves blowing down over the forest floor. He soon reaches the familiar door, and luckily there are no guards standing present. They must have expected him though, because the moment he enters he is pulled in by a super excited Jehan.

“And? And? And?” They ask excitedly.

“Meet the guards you’ll be stuck with for a week, we’re going out.” Montparnasse says.

Jehan lets out an excited squeal and hugs him tightly. Montparnasse is taken by surprise again by the very sudden and tight hug but he wraps his arms around them as well and smiles slightly.

“Thank you.” They whisper.

“I’m Claquesous, and these are Babet and Gueulemer. We’ll be taking you out of the castle, sir.” Claquesous says politely. He easily takes on the role of the guard and even does a nice little bow to seal the deal. ‘God what a show off.’ Montparnasse thinks, but he can’t help but to be a little amused by it either way.

“Just call me Jehan! And there is no need to bow for me.” Jehan says.

“Did you pack yet?” Montparnasse eyes what appears to be a half filled travel bag.

“I’m almost done! I’m not quite sure what to pack though.” 

“Here, allow me to help.” 

After getting Jehan their approval he looks through their bag. It was filled with a lot of unnecessary things such as books and other irrelevant similar items. He takes everything out that they don’t need and moves through the room to get everything they do need. He opens the closet door and is slightly taken by surprise again at the massive amount of clothes Jehan seems to own.

“Grab only the essential, such as warm clothes for at night and since it isn’t really cold yet at day maybe some lighter clothes for when we travel. We’ll be doing most of it by foot.” 

Jehan nods and grabs everything that Montparnasse tells them to. They get out of the room in less than 30 minutes.Montparnasse hadn’t packed much except for things to sleep under and some clothes and weapons. They would all be ditching the guard suits to raise less suspicion towards strangers travelling through the woods as well, even though they wouldn’t be traveling over the roads. They arrived at the entrance of the castle and Montparnasse turned to face Jehan.

“So, are you ready?” 

“I’m ready.”

**Author's Note:**

> I feel the need to say that I only ever watched the 2012 movie and I'm really sorry if anything is very OOC I haven't gotten that far into the book yet
> 
> Also as usual you can come and talk to me on my tumblr which is @eloquent-apollo


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